Odds Are, Nevada Will Be a Tossup | LA Times

[Ediacara]

Odds Are, Nevada Will Be a Tossup
-Bush won -- barely -- in 2000, but with a shifting demographic, anything is possible this year. Yucca Mountain could become a decisive issue.

By Mark Z. Barabak, Times Staff Writer

CARSON CITY, Nev. — Politically, it would seem that President Bush has hit the jackpot in Nevada, a state both sides covet as they claw their way toward the 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House.

The state's economy is robust, with close to 83,000 jobs created since Bush took office — more than half of them in the last year. Tourism has snapped back smartly from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, with Las Vegas casinos bustling and Reno enjoying its most prosperous winter in years.

The turmoil in Iraq has not seemed to hurt Bush's personal standing. And even supporters of Sen. John F. Kerry say the Massachusetts blue blood is not exactly the best fit for this rough-hewn state, which clings proudly to its Wild West heritage.

More at the Los Angeles Times

[WI_DEM]

1. Nevada

must be one of just a handful of states which actually gained jobs under Bush.

[aquart]

2. Bush lied to them about Yucca.

Some people get annoyed by things like that.

HAH! I've been saying Nevada's in play and no one believed me. HAH!

[stopbush]

3. Kerry will win Nevada, no doubt about it.

1. Yucca Mt has pissed off the entire state. Bush LIED to NV in 2000 about Yucca. Our 4 electoral votes in Gore's column would have given him a clear victory. This year, it will happen for Kerry.

2. Dems are energized - our Dem caucuses were overwhelmingly attended, 10 times the normal turnout. They had to move them outdoors into a parking lot to handle the crowds.

3. Kerry won the NV caucuses by a wide margin. No disillusioned Deaniacs to worry about (I was one of them)

4. NV is facing MAJOR challenges on the natural resources front and is ready to vote for an environmentally friendly/aware candidate (Las Vegas' power company is also locked in an Enron-style pricing gouge scheme with the water authority - which is trying to wrest electrical authority from NV Power).

5. Sen Harry Reid (D) has had lots of great face time this year. He'll be a big asset campaigning for Kerry.